LSTM’s Dr Nick Beeching dropped into Carleton House Preparatory School today after the school won a competition run by the Royal Liverpool University Hospital (RLUH).
Carleton House competed against dozens of other primary schools last November, dressing as doctors and taking part in educational activities about infection in order to win the Doctor for the Day.
Dr Beeching, who was one of the stars of the Discovery Channel’s ‘Bugs, Bites and Parasites’ is a Senior Clinical Lecturer at LSTM as well as a Consultant and head of the Tropical and Infectious Disease Unit at RLUH. He visited the school along with Suzanne Marshall, the Matron for the Unit, and they met with 130 pupils in the school hall to talk about the new Royal and take part in a question and answer session.
They demonstrated how infections multiply and can spread by giving one pupil measles spots with a special pen, six pupils around them were then infected, who each infected six more, some pupils being left out to represent those that were protected by vaccination.
After the demonstration they toured classrooms answering questions about their jobs and talking about the importance of proper handwashing, using a UV box to show how well the pupils managed to wash their hands to get rid of dirt and germs that cannot be seen by the naked eye.
Dr Beeching said: “The day was a great success and we are grateful to the teachers and the pupils for joining in so enthusiastically. It has helped provide much needed funds for the new Royal, building of which starts next week. We hope it was a great learning opportunity for the children. The demonstration showed how diseases can spread and be prevented in a fun and interactive way – it is always rewarding to work with children, hopefully sparking scientific interest from an early age.”